Music you've never heard….'til now! A blog of rare, hardly-heard or remembered pop, hip-hop, R&B, freestyle and dance music from the 80s and 90s. From one-hit wonders to no-hit wonders, this blog has it all!!

Monday, April 7, 2008

Taja Sevelle

Taja Sevelle (born Nancy Richardson on March 18, 1962 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a fascinating female pop\R&B singer from the 80s.

By the time she was 17 years old, Taja had lived in the city, on a farm and in a remote forest near the Canadian border without running water, electricity or a car. She studied in her own science lab, plowed fields, tapped maple trees and even sang in several church choirs.

Taja studied voice at the University of Duluth and Ear Training at the Minneapolis Technical Institute during her high school years. She produced her own radio programs and worked as a DJ. She was in six different bands and even put her own band together.

In 1987, Taja was signed to Prince's Paisley Park Records and during that same year, she was accepted into Boston's Berklee College of Music.

Also in that same year, she released her self-titled debut album which didn't appear to make the charts at all.

Taja's first single "Love is Contagious" became her only hit single to date, peaking at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October of 1987 and #58 on Billboard's Hot Black Singles chart in November of 1987, staying on the chart for 15 weeks. The song also peaked at #7 on the U.K. Singles chart.

The follow-up single "Wouldn't You Love to Love Me" peaked at #61 on Billboard's Hot Black Singles chart in March of 1988, staying on the chart for only 9 weeks. In the U.K., the song peaked at #59 on the U.K. Singles chart.

Two more singles: "Popular" and "Take Me for a Ride" were released, but failed to make the charts at all.

In 1991, Taja released her sophomore album "Fountains Free" on Reprise Records. The album didn't appear to make much impact on the charts nor did the single, "Trouble Having You Near."

﻿In 1997, Taja released her third album "Toys of Vanity" which also didn't make a lot of impact on the charts along with the singles "A Lot Like You" and "I&I." In the late 90's, she started the Matrix Music record label.

In 2000 and 2003, Taja released two singles on Basement Boys Records: "Never Givin' Up" and "Sympathy for the Devil."

In 2001, Taja released the EP "Good Times." It's unknown how or if the EP had ever made the charts. She has songwriting and singing credits on over 2.5 million records sold (including her own) with artists such as Johnny Mathis, Arrested Development, Marilyn Scott and Badly Drawn Boy.

In 2011, she released a remixed version of her song, "Good Times" which is available for purchase on iTunes.

These days, Taja is devoted to an international charity called Urban Farming that provides produce for food banks. She invented a kitchen appliance whom she partnered up with Larry King and his wife, Shawn King on it.

She has also written a novel called "Rain on a River" and is working on her next two books called "The Garden Life" which is about her life and work with Urban Farming & "The Joke."